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Diesel Back on the Rise, Oil at Seven-week Low

Last week's diesel price decrease was short-lived as the average price rose by 0.6 cents per gallon this week to $4.148 per gallon, while the price of gasoline stayed nearly the same. However, crude-oil futures ended at a seven-week low Monday.

Several regions did experience a small drop in prices, including the Lower Atlantic (0.3 cent drop) and the West Coast (0.9 cent drop), according to the Energy Information Administration's weekly fuel update. At more than $4 a gallon, diesel fuel is more than three times its cost 10 years ago, when a gallon cost an average of $1.323 a gallon.

For the first time in 11 weeks, the price of gasoline has gone down, but only by .2 cents to $3.939 per gallon, hardly enough for celebration. The Midwest (down 4.5 cents) and West Coast (down 2.8 cents) were the only regions that saw lower prices. New England saw the largest price increase, up by 7.1 cents.

Crude-oil futures ended at a seven-week low Monday, after a disappointing report on U.S. employment late last week and just before international talks over Iran's nuclear program take place this week. Crude-oil futures for May delivery fell 85 cents, or 0.8%, to $102.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Talks about Iran's nuclear program, which will include the U.S. and China, are set to begin Friday in Istanbul, Turkey. Oil has been gaining on fears that tensions over Iran would cut into global oil supplies.